As well known, widely used for preparing pizza, sandwich, salad and the like, a food preparation table includes a counter top for providing a place on which foodstuff is prepared; a pan area disposed adjacent to the counter top, which accommodates a plural number of pans containing ingredient foodstuff items, e.g., sliced tomatoes and lettuces; a food storage compartment disposed below the counter top, which preserves other items therein; and a refrigerating system for supplying cooled air to the pan area and the storage compartment.
Further, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,168,719, 5,182,923, 5,182,924 and 6,385,990, the food preparation table further includes an arrangement for guiding air cooled in the refrigerating system into the pan area to cool effectively the ingredient foodstuff items in the pans deposited thereon; and an arrangement for guiding the cooled air into the food storage compartment. However, since such a food preparation table cannot distribute cooled air evenly into the food storage compartment, an inner space of the storage compartment is not effectively cooled so that uniformity of a temperature distribution therein is seriously deteriorated.
The refrigerating system of the food preparation table is provided with an intake device for drawing air from the storage compartment, an evaporator for cooling the air drawn from the storage compartment, a condenser for supplying a liquefied refrigerant to the evaporator and a compressor for supplying a compressed refrigerant to the condenser. And in general, the refrigerating system is disposed in a compact space defined by an outer and/or inner walls of the food preparation table. Therefore, when repair or replacement of any components in such a refrigerating system is carried out, it is difficult to obtain a sufficient workspace.